Provided is a method for transmitting paging information in a cellular system. An object of the method is transmitting paging information which can improve applicability of a limited radio resource by variably and flexibly setting up and mapping a transport channel and a physical channel in order to transmit information notifying start of downlink information from a base station to a terminal in a cellular system for packet transmission. The method includes the steps of : forming a paging channel (PCH) in a transport channel corresponding to generation of paging information; setting a paging indication channel (PICH) based on the paging information and forming the paging indication channel in a radio resource of a physical layer; and allocating the paging channel to the radio resource of the physical layer.